THE ARMOUR CASE.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 June 1921, Page 5

THE ARMOUR CASE.

EXPORT TO AMERICA ONLY. RE-SHIPMENT STOPPED, x By Te’.C£if.rh —ltess Association. Wellington, May 31. Sir Frar.cis Bell has telegraphed fur-* th:*r 1-) the American Conaul-General” n gui ding the Armour case: No diffh cuity is placed in the way of Armour, and Co. exporting to America for American use the meat now in freezing store, but the New Zealand Government has required a substantial guarantee against the re-shipment of that* meat to London. Wellington, Last Night. Yesterday Sir Francis Bell stated to the Press that Armour and Co. had a million carcases of sheep stored. Today he received from the general manager at Christchurch a denial of thia, elating that they were holding under 300,000. Replying, Sir Francis Bell said?, he was under the impression Mr. Caw ney (of Armour and Co,) informed hunl; that the quantity was a million, but haj had evidently mistaken what Mr. Car-ij ney had said. He did not question thd statement in the manager’s telegram J and regretted the mistake, but the? number was not material tq the points at issue. • ,

AN IMPORTANT PRECEDENT.' WASHINGTON AND ’ Attention has been draw/i to the faett that the exchange of communications between the United States and the New Zealand Governments through the American ' Consul-General/ regarding the refusal of a meat export license to Armour and Company of Australasia, has created a precedent.. It •has been the custom in the past for official communications between Washington and Wellington to go through, the channel of the Colonial Office in London.

Referring to this point, the ActingPrime Minister (Sir Francis Bell) said that on other occasions the American Government had sent communications through the American Consul-General. But on the advice of the late SolicitorGeneral, the New Zealand Government' had always replied that while it was ready to give the Consul-General every assistance in gathering information for himself, it could communicate with the United States Government only through the Secretary of State for the The direct reply that had been sent regarding the Armour case was a news departure.